Shale gas production in China surged last year to 200 million cubic meters, as Bloomberg reported January 8, citing China’s Land and Resources Ministry.
According to the news agency, slate gas output in China was about 30 million cubic meters in 2012. Thus, China expanded the gas production from non-conventional sources by more than 7 times. However, another researches showed that shale gas production in the country amounted to 50 million cubic meters in 2012.
The ministry says in its communique that oil and gas companies PetroChina Co. and Sinopec Group, have built new production facility capable to extract 600 million cubic meters of slate gas. In particular, Sinopec Group plans to produce 3.2 billion cubic meters of shale gas from Fuling in Chongqing municipality by 2015, doubling its previous target.
China’s government has pledged to spur the shale industry’s development by allowing tax-free imports of equipment and offering subsidies to explorers. The National Energy Administration says that the country pumps more than 2 million cubic meters of shale gas a day.
Meanwhile, oil and natural gas output hit record highs last year, according to the ministry. Production of crude rose 1.8 percent to 210 million metric tons, while conventional gas increased 9.8 percent to 117.7 billion cubic meters. For reference, oil production exceeded 523 million cubic meters in Russia in 2013, while the gas production reached 668 billion cubic meters.
In June 2013, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated the slate gas stock in China at 32 billion barrels. Considering this figure, China gives way only to the U.S. and Russia.
Nowadays, the U.S. has been extracting fissile hydrocarbons in the most robust way. October 3, 2013 the Wall Street Journal wrote that thanks to shale-rock exploitation, the U.S. imports of natural gas and crude oil fell 32% and 15%, respectively, in the past five years.
